Can I just praise my DTS school?

They started reception in September and already they can read sentences like "Mum and Dad" and recognise words like "the". According to Ofsted, this school (state) was only satisfactory but I used my gut instincts following visits and chats with other parents whose children attended.

DH and I are so happy with the school, our DTS (they are 4yo and 8 months) have settled very well, they run into breakfast club in the morning and yesterday when I collected them from afterschool club, they kept me waiting for 10 minutes because they wanted to complete their work of art.

Yesterday evening, they lined up their furry toys and they pretended to be the school teacher and the class room assistant. They acted out telling their class a story then asked thepupils questions. Then they proceeded to sing a song they had learnt in class. It was delightful to observe.

The boys also love to practise writing their letters and are always practising their counting without any prompting from us. I really hope they maintain their enthusiasm, curiosity and zest for learning.

Also, the PTA is so active and puts on so many events. In the first week, the boys attended a school disco and I helped out on the tuck shop. It is a great little community.

There were valid reasons for the school being marked down as satisfactory but the school was addressing those issues anyway. It just goes to show that a school is much more than just an abstract report!